Do you pine for Jesus?
Have you ever been in love? Like just gotta be with them, can't get enough love? Have you ever been separated from the one you love? Do you know that feeling—that feeling that wells up inside your chest like a volcano bulges the Earth’s crust before it...
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Becoming a Professional Writer Is Hard: These Two Opportunities Will Help
Becoming a writer is hard. Statistically, it’s just as difficult as becoming an Olympic athlete or a professional musician. Yet as writers, we tend to believe that that anyone can do it and all it takes is a laptop. Even worse, we believe that we can do it all on our...
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Level Up Writer – AKA Don’t Uncle Rico
My oldest son wants to be a YouTube star. Not to brag, but he's good at it. For twelve years old, he blows me away. He takes it seriously. He studies the craft of other YouTubers, reads book about it, and tries new things. What he's producing is way beyond his age. He...
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You’re trying too hard. Don’t cute your logo.
Before I got into publishing, I worked as a small business consultant. I helped small businesses develop their brands and implement web marketing campaigns (website, social media, etc.). Becoming an author is exactly the same as developing a small business. Just like...
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Should Christian writers use profanity in their stories?
There are about six words that are ever-present in the real world, but taboo within Christian culture. How do we, as Christian writers, tell good stories about the real world without these six words? Is it OK for Christian writers to include profanity in their...
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Opportunity Cost: The Writer’s Guide
The math may be hard, but the concept is easy (and so important)! Plus 5 bad investments authors love to make. What is opportunity cost? You might hear this word thrown around in a business sense from time to time. Opportunity cost is the idea that if you invest in...
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21 Ways to Ruin Your Protagonist’s Life (without compromising their morality)
I met with an author yesterday to review her developmental edit. Like many first-time authors, she was struggling to make enough bad things happen to her protagonist, especially things that might be perceived as the character’s fault. Understandably, she wants her...
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Is The Chosen a failure?
An old friend of mine recently wrote an impressive piece for The Atlantic on why The Chosen fails to achieve its goals. The Chosen is a dramatic serial adaptation of the life of Christ, funded by the largest crowdfunding campaign of its type in history. Created by...
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Play the Game You Want to Win
When I was in the fifth grade I won this really cool 4-square ball at AWANA. It was multi-toned blue, swirled together, like the way the ocean looks from space. We were playing at recess one day, and I felt like I had been treated unfairly. Who knows why? Probably a...
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What’s more important—Beta Readers or a Developmental Editor? What’s the difference?
I’m a firm believer in writers’ workshops, especially for beginning authors. As long as it’s a good workshop committed to giving hard feedback, there’s no better way to hear what real readers really think of your work. Beta readers are like workshop readers for your...
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